Cafritz Approval: What Others Are Saying
An overview of media coverage following last week's planning board vote.
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Given the size and complexity of the proposed Cafritz development, it's no surprise that Thursday's approval by the Prince George's County Planning Board drew significant media interest. Patch's own coverage included a live blog of the proceedings and reactions from officials involved in the process—here's a look at what others wrote:
• Gazette.Net: "Highly debated Cafritz property clears approval hurdle in Riverdale Park"
Staff writer Daniel Gross rounds up the action from Thursday's hearing, including a post-vote pledge from Jane Cafritz that the developer is "not going to come in and turn this over."
• The Washington Post: "Whole Foods project a step closer in Prince George's"
Lori Aratani describes the project as one that "has been controversial among residents but that officials hope will send a message to developers that the county is a place where high-end retail can thrive."
• Rethink College Park: "Planning Board Approves Cafritz 4-0"
Writer Chris Gill briefly discusses the vote and runs down some of the changes made to the conditions late in the process.
• Associated Press/WUSA: Prince George's May Get First Whole Foods Store
A quick write-up of the planning board's vote via the AP (which misidentifies the location of the development as College Park).
Joseph Grikis
10:23 am on Tuesday, February 7, 2012
The PG Planning Board isn't a very high hurdle. As many have pointed out, the Planning Board approves everything. In a quick survey of rezoning actions over the last 90 days, the Planning Board approved 15 out of 15 requests, including developments that were uniformally opposed by the community and local officials, such as the Maryland Book Exchange.
The Planning Board's track record demonstrates why this body should be elective and accountable rather than politically appointed. In fact, if the County is serious about dealing with the deficit, it might consider eliminating the Planning Board which provides little public good at considerable public expense.
Danny
11:44 am on Tuesday, February 7, 2012
a more reasonable and forward-looking way of dealing with a tight fiscal environment (vis-a-vis eliminating the planning board because you disagree with its decisions) might be to encourage quality commercial and retail investment in our woefully underserved county and then to reap the benefits via property-tax revenues and payroll-tax revenue from newly created jobs.
PG doesn't benefit fiscally from the high-quality development in silver spring, annapolis, columbia, and DC that many of us regularly patronize because there's no local alternative, not to mention those of us who commute out of the county for work.
Danny
11:47 am on Tuesday, February 7, 2012
oh, and if you meant "uniformly" when you wrote "uniformally," please be assured that the book exchange project is NOT uniformly opposed by the community. i am a member of the community, and i, for one, am in favor of it.
Joseph Grikis
1:43 pm on Tuesday, February 7, 2012
A more reasonable and forward-looking approach of dealing with a tight fiscal environment might be to encourage private investment on projects that minimize public investments and minimal public risk. I'm sure the payroll taxes from a few hundred service workers will eventually offset tax incentives for developers and new infrastructure.
Danny
2:18 pm on Tuesday, February 7, 2012
could you provide an example of such a project?
Michael B. Cron
12:14 pm on Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Whole Foods may want to reconsider and relocate to College Park's East Campus Project which has already been approved and will be done years before the Cafritz Project. The location and accessibility is far superior as compared to the Cafritz Property which is landlocked on three sides making egress and ingress incredibly difficult.